Mystery Men

Witty comic-book story is edgy, with lots of potty humor.

The characters have been designed to make fun of themselves, disguising the craft of writer Neil Cuthbert and director Kinka Usher in getting us to laugh at them.

Usher's amiable spoof of superhero movies takes a brave stab at rewriting the mythology from the inside out, with lots of witty, mildly subversive stuff.

Mystery Men is like its hapless heroes. It's a wannabe that has the best intentions -- including a pronounced anti-gun stance -- but none of the knack it takes to save the day, or itself.

A desperately hit-and-miss affair.

This bunch achieves peaks of sublime nuttiness.

Mystery Men is admirable for its effort but falls short of the standards that we've come to expect in the spoof genre.

A colorful but flavorless dud.

A story that sparkles with emotional warmth, strong jokes and great performances from Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo, Lena Olin, Eddie Izzard, Greg Kinnear, William Macy, Geoffrey Rush and Ben Stiller.

Even with its super cast, the slow-moving 'Mystery Men' falters in its attempt to spoof comic book heroes.